Why homeschool growth and other enrollment shifts should concern K-12 leaders

A surge in students shifting to homeschooling during the pandemic offers yet another warning for public school administrators facing enrollment pressures post-COVID.

Homeschooling has been growing steadily for years but skyrocketed during the pandemic, according to the “Homeschooling in Uncertain Times: COVID Prompts a Surge” report by the Pioneer Institute, a public policy think tank.

The organization also offers ideas for how policymakers can better accommodate families who chose to homeschool their children.

The U.S. Census Bureau reports that the percentage of homeschooling households has doubled, from 5.4% during the 2019-20 school year to 11% in 2020-21. Among Black households, that number increased nearly five-fold, from 3.3% to 16.1% in a year.

“You didn’t have to be an expert to see the negative impact remote and hybrid classes had on learning in more traditional schools last year,” said William Heuer, who co-authored the report. “For a lot of people who had been thinking about homeschooling, the pandemic made it a good time to make the change.”

Homeschooling is legal but regulated differently in every state. In Massachusetts, for example, the curriculum parents want to use must be approved by the local school board or superintendent.

Here are the report’s policy recommendations:

1. 1. 1. Acknowledge homeschooling as a viable educational choice: State education departments can add homeschooling information to their websites and link to homeschooling support groups that exist in all states. Districts can allow homeschooling organizations to make presentations at ‘open house’ sessions for the upcoming school years.
      2. Districts should support families that choose to homeschool: Public school administrators aren’t expected to be promoters of homeschooling, the report says, but they can accommodate the practice. A number of districts let homeschoolers participate in extracurricular activities and they can also consider offering professional development courses that assist parents with homeschool instruction.
      3. Encourage innovations in alternative education: Learning pods, micro-schools and learning hubs increased dramatically during the pandemic. At first, these were more common among wealthy families, but non-profits have also banded together to provide opportunities to low-income students.
      4. Learn from homeschooling families: Parents choose homeschooling for a variety of reasons that range from safety concerns to individualized learning and parental involvement. A survey of local families who have recently switched to homeschooling would provide many constructive steps educators could take to improve public schools.
      5. End the “socialization” myth: A mindset associating “schooling” and “socialization” has arisen as a result of COVID isolation. For some students who succeeded academically at COVID-era homeschooling but want to return to the public school for “socialization,” there may be a misconception that schools are the main source of filling the social needs of children.

“It’s unclear how many families view homeschooling as a temporary solution during the pandemic and how many will continue to do it,” said Jamie Gass, director of education policy at Pioneer Institute. “But after years of steady increases, it is clear that the practice is common enough to be treated as a viable educational choice.”

The authors’ recommendations include state education agencies providing direction and information for those considering homeschooling by putting information about it on their websites with links to statewide homeschooling support groups. They also urge districts to offer parents some “professional development” classes/courses and to allow students to participate in district extra-curricular activities.

Other enrollment issues

A report released last week found that about 240,000 students switched to public charter schools during the 2020-21 school year, accounting for a 7% boost in enrollment.

Overall, about 1.4 million students left district public schools while charter schools saw their sharpest enrollment growth in about five years in rural, suburban and urban communities, according to the “Voting With Their Feet” report by the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools.

“Families are sending a clear message,” said Nina Rees, president and CEO of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools. “They want more public school options. From the Pacific Northwest to the Deep South, the pandemic forced families to rethink where and how education could be delivered to their children.”